Geek News

Onmyoji is Now Available on Steam! Onmyoji is a turn-based fantasy strategy game with PVP or PVE battles, where you can strengthen your beloved shikigami to build your dream tactical team and defeat various demons to become the ultimate onmyoji. Cross-platform play available for both Steam and English mobile versions. via Steam RSS News Feed "https://ift.tt/2vrd8XP"

* Fixed a recent bug that caused Gifting and the Activity Feed to not work properly via Steam RSS News Feed "https://ift.tt/2vyIg8b"

YouTuber Mars Argo is suing musician and internet persona Poppy and her creator, Titanic Sinclair, otherwise known as Corey Mixter. In court documents obtained by The Verge , Mars Argo, real name Brittany Sheets, alleges that in addition to enduring “severe emotional and psychological abuse and manipulation from Mr. Mixter,” he also crafted a “Mars Argo knockoff” in the form of Poppy. Sheets is also seeking a domestic violence restraining order against Mixter, as well as damages against Poppy actress Moriah Pereira “for being a knowing accomplice to Mr. Mixter’s unlawful actions.” The first Poppy video, “ Poppy Eats Cotton Candy ,” was released in November 2014, the same year Sheets and Mixter split. Poppy has since amassed a huge following... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2HxnRFe"

Facebook looks to be in the early stages of developing its own silicon to power its devices and servers, according to a new report from Bloomberg . The company is looking to hire a manager tasked with assembling an “end-to-end SoC / ASIC, firmware, and driver development organization.” So the plan is only coming together, but Facebook’s interest in becoming more self-reliant — and less dependent on outside companies like Qualcomm — makes it the latest tech giant to start down this path. Apple already has self-branded chips inside its iOS devices and is reportedly planning to replace the Intel processors in Mac computers with its own. Google produces custom AI chips and included its first consumer-focused silicon (an image processor) in... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2JWgxBh"

Year after year, Amazon brags about selling more things than ever, and now the company has added turkey sales to its leaderboard. In a letter to shareholders , CEO Jeff Bezos celebrated the milestone made possible by its takeover of Whole Foods. “Our Prime member exclusive promotion broke Whole Foods’ all-time record for turkeys sold during the Thanksgiving season,” Bezos wrote. In accordance with Amazon’s tradition of congratulating itself for vaguely-defined excellence, Bezos did not say exactly how many turkeys were sold. He also declined to say how many Fire TVs, Kindles, and Echo devices Amazon sold, but noted 2017 was also the company’s “best year yet for hardware sales.” Amazon did release one useful stat today: in 2017, the... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2qF3KKG"

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has revealed in his annual shareholders letter today that his company has over 100 million Prime members, marking the first time in the 13-year history of Amazon offering its Prime membership that the company has ever revealed its number of subscribers. According to Bezos, Amazon Prime also saw its best year ever in 2017, with the company shipping over five billion products with Prime and signing up more new members than in any previous year. Amazon charges $99 for Prime membership, which includes a slew of perks for the online retailer, including free two-day shipping, access to Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service, and more. Developing... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2vqMtL0"

Whole Foods will shut down its rewards program, digital coupons, and customers’ online accounts on May 2nd and fold everything into Amazon Prime, according to an email to customers this week. The email, as spotted by Marketwatch , says unused rewards will not roll over to Amazon Prime, so customers should try to use their benefits before the program officially sunsets. No other details were provided, but the online retailer did hint that additional announcements are forthcoming. Since Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods last year , the online retailer has been more present in Whole Foods stores across the US. On the day Amazon officially closed the acquisition deal, it immediately started selling Echo speakers in stores nationwide . Over... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2HeJzul"

Space TESS is blasting off on Wednesday night. NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will search the brightest stars in our galactic neighborhood for evidence of planets. Its mission starts today. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2qGNklJ"

Although the ability to publish pre-recorded video to Facebook Live has been an option for some time, it’s required the use of third-party programs like OBS and Wirecast. Now, Facebook is testing a feature called Premieres, which will let creators publish already-made videos to Facebook Live, as reported today by Engadget . While there isn’t much information on Premieres yet, it appears to be angled toward content like movie trailers, Facebook Watch shows, and music videos, and it would come with Facebook Live functions like chat. Essentially, it’s a way for publishers to bring the experience of a television premiere or film trailer drop to Facebook, allowing people to experience a new video together in real time. “We’re testing this now... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2qEzKi2"

Health Little bumps and blisters used to kill. How did bumps, pricks, and bruises kill? I followed my great-great-great-grandma’s obituary down a deadly rabbit hole. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2Hd1PUT"

Snapchat has slowly but surely been building out Lenses, its augmented reality face filter platform, both as a way to keep users hooked on taking selfies and as a way to earn money from advertisers. Starting this week, Snapchat will introduce its new Shoppable AR feature, which will let advertisers display and sell products through the app’s Lenses, according to TechCrunch . The new feature builds on one Snapchat first introduced nearly three years ago when it first let companies create branded filters on its Lens platform and shortly thereafter opened its Lens Store to sell the AR face masks for $0.99 a pop . Now, advertisers can add a button to a Lens that takes users to a website where they can buy an associated product. The feature is... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2J7ot1s"

It can be difficult to keep track of the progress being made in robotics, but one useful (if informal) marker is how good machines are at assembling Ikea furniture. Why? Because putting together your average Billy bookcase involves skills that are intuitive for humans but challenging for robots. Figuring out how a number of components fit together to make a finished product is basically one big 3D puzzle involving complex movements and the manipulation of delicate items like pins and screws. For bigger pieces of furniture, you also have to coordinate multiple actors. (Although admittedly, robots find this part easier than humans.) With that in mind, here’s your latest Ikea Robot Assembly update: they’ve got better again. In a paper p... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2HM2DRm"

Today's Deal: Save 60% on Salt and Sanctuary !* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends Friday at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "https://ift.tt/2voez9v"

Silicon Valley is going to have to work through its qualms about providing AI services to the military, said Alphabet board member and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Schmidt said that AI would be useful for “defensive and perhaps offensive purposes” in warfare, and developing the technology would have to be done with the help of the private sector. When asked by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) how this would work considering the “reluctance” of tech companies to work with the Department of Defense, Schmidt suggested that firms will need to agree between themselves on acceptable norms. “The industry is going to come to some set of agreements on AI principles — what is... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2qIfagU"

Technology Meet ELIA, a new tactile reading system. Little has changed in the way of tactile reading and writing since Louis Braille published his braille system in 1829. But ELIA has big plans. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2HdQpA9"

Microsoft is planning to launch Office 2019 later this year , and the company is changing the way OneNote is bundled. The note taking app currently has a desktop version included in Office 2016, and a separate Universal Windows App for Windows 10. Microsoft is replacing the desktop versio n of OneNote with the Windows 10 version in Office 2019, along with making the entire Office suite only work on Windows 10 . The existing desktop app, OneNote 2016, will no longer get new features but Microsoft will keep updating it to fix any security issues or bugs until its end of life in October 2020. Microsoft has been gradually improving its OneNote Windows 10 app in recent months, and the company is planning new features in the future. OneNote for... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2H9Ik3B"

Filings from the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) database suggest new iPhones might be coming, potentially sooner than we thought. Consomac , a French website, first spotted the filing which mentions model numbers A1920, A1921, A1984, A2097, A2098, A2099, A2101, A2103, A2104, A2105, and A2106. None of these models already exist in the database. We figured Apple would introduce new phones at its usual September event. Three new devices are rumored to be coming this year, including two OLED models and one cheaper LCD model. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested the rumored 6.5-inch model, which we’re calling the “iPhone X Plus,” in January, and later, the phone’s possible display leaked , too, although we have no idea whether... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2qJdRhs"

French company Enhancia’s MIDI ring , which The Verge first saw at this year’s NAMM show , has debuted for preorder on Kickstarter. Now called Neova, the ring is an accessory for musicians to wear on the index finger of their right hand. Specific movements tell the ring to trigger effects while performing, like pitch bend and vibrato. The ring contains a total of nine sensors, and it captures movements made while performing. These movements are then sent to a hub that’s connected to your computer via USB. It works with every major Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), and every gesture the ring recognizes can be assigned to any parameter you wish. The ring’s sensitivity to the movements is also adjustable. Enhancia’s video above shows how it... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2HOfenv"

This week’s slate of new releases for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One serves as an illuminating indicator of the state each console is in. The PS4 has two new exclusive titles in major series that date back to the PlayStation 2 days: God of War , by all accounts a masterpiece, and Yakuza 6 , a satisfying final chapter for a much-loved character. The Xbox One, on the other hand? Well, now you can play a bunch more old Xbox 1 — as in the original Xbox — games. I don’t mean for this to sound damning, though. While Microsoft is rightly being pilloried for its anemic first-party software efforts, the Xbox One actually now has more to play on it than any other console. At least, from a certain point of view. Back at E3 2015, Microsoft announced... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2vo4462"

Nexus Media News An interview with evolutionary biologist Shane Campbell-Staton. Evolutionary biologist Shane Campbell-Staton loves reading comic books almost as much as he loves studying unusual animals. Now he’s combining his twin passions in a new… via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2J8iqtx"

Disney is letting people play Star Wars’ Dejarik holochess game for free on iOS in augmented reality through ARKit, via 9to5Mac . The new game actually comes as an update to last year’s Star Wars: Jedi Challenges AR game, which originally included holochess but required the purchase of hardware accessories. The ARKit holochess variant seems to be the same version from the original Jedi Challenges, just ported over so that users don’t need to buy the headset or lightsaber attachment — even instructions in the game tell you to “direct your gaze” to interact with the board. I took it for a spin for a few minutes, and it works okay, although the ported nature of the game is apparent. It has small, hard-to-read text and awkward controls that... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2EXb7Cl"

Android P is finally fixing its Bluetooth volume settings with an update that will allow the mobile OS to remember volume preferences on a device-by-device basis, according to Android Police . Now, Android will store the last volume used on each device in a preference file and automatically set back to that the next time you connect to that device. It’s not exactly a big change, but as someone who regularly switches between blasting music through a Bluetooth speaker and listening to music on a pair of headphones, it’ll be nice to not have my eardrums blown out every time I switch between the two devices. (And yes, iOS has been able to do this for a while, but it's nice to see that Android is catching up to help protect my hearing.) A... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2H96vyV"

Have you ever wanted to fly a drone with your body? How about while wearing a VR headset that shows you a first-person perspective from the drone and where it’s flying in real time? This is now a reality, thanks to a drone and exosuit developed by the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne University in Switzerland. It’s called the FlyJacket , and the user controlling the drone wears a VR headset and a soft upper-body exoskeleton that syncs their movement with the drone’s. The user spreads their arms wide (like wings), and when they turn or roll their body, the drone will move correspondingly while the user can watch through the VR headset. The system works with fixed-wing drones. The exoskeleton has a motion-tracking device to follow... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2H8laX7"

DIY Here’s why. As summer returns, it’s time to relax and read by the pool. So you pull out your phone, don your shades, and...you can’t see a thing on the screen. What gives? via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2JV3xf2"

Everybody hates smartphone notifications. They’re interruptive, distracting, annoying, and increasingly less valuable. The signal-to-noise ratio on your average smartphone’s lock screen is completely out of whack. The solution, of course, is to dive into your phone’s settings and turn as many app notifications off as you can. But it’s a constant struggle: every new app you install wants to get on your lock screen and the little pop-up box is all too easy to just say yes to. Ten-ish years into the smartphone revolution, we’re still coming to grips with which things we should allow to interrupt us. It’s easy to forget as we slog through the repercussions of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, but for the first couple months of the... Continue reading… via The Verge - Tech Posts "https://ift.tt/2HIxq1A"

Health Your diet soda might just be worse than a regular one. Low-calorie sweeteners have been around for decades now, and we’re finally at a point where we’ve studied them enough to understand roughly how they work and what effect… via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2vok5cm"